exick:The only drawback of pho for me is the exorbitant amount of cilantro I have to deal with. Basil, ginger, fish sauce, broth, meat, noodles are all great. And then I get to the farking forest of cilantro. Gorrammit!

See, I like cilantro (and like pho, though I've had some from places I really didn't care for too) and was wondering if maybe the author is one of those people who doesn't like cilantro. Because if so, any sort of pho experience is pretty much doomed.

I absolutely love ramen and there are no places near me at all that sell it (some places say they do but they're not even anywhere close). Pho is something KINDA similar, different, but I like pho so I'm willing to get sorta close. Also some other Chinese bowls of noodle dishes (I just like a big bowl of noodle soup.) But I would definitely not think pho and ramen are the same...

ZAZ:Almost every single time, people need to tell me how wrong I am and how I must try it at their place and add just the right amount of Sriracha and not doing this is why I didn't like it.

Sounds like tofu cultists I have met. No, tofu doesn't take on the essence of whatever oils you annoint it with. At its best it is tasteless and slimy and at its worst both the taste and texture are horrid. No, I am not going to try it just one more time because this chef mixes it with dried broccoli excrement and the taste is to die for. Or more likely to die from.

Your presence at the tofu bar will be sorely missed, I assure you.

Rik01:I've had those $5.00 coffees from Starbucks and while good, I actually had better from Mac Donalds for $2.00.

That is because, god help us, McDonalds serves surprisingly good coffee. Better than Tim Horton's or Starbucks' anyway, that's for sure.

factoryconnection:"I don't like it because it's just bland noodles and sort-of salty broth. Seriously, that's it. I really think you guys think it's much more than that. Yes, I realize it usually has meat and some weird veggies in it, but bean sprouts and Thai basil also aren't that good..."

I figured before reading that it would come down to the writer not liking basil, or cilantro, or ginger, or fish sauce. If you don't like the herbs and spices they use in the broth, assuming it was a place that had good broth, then you won't like the food.

brap: That's great, um, maybe you should order something else.

Yeah, considering that most pho places also have banh mi, and if you don't like banh mi I don't know what you're looking for in life.

Pho is not a hipster food. It's very much a working man type of food; it's made with relatively common ingredients, there's little in the way of fancy cooking methods or obscure preparations. And pho is exactly the type of thing you'd eat when you're hung over and need something to pick you up. It really doesn't fit the profile of a hipster/foodie favorite

BunkoSquad:factoryconnection: I figured before reading that it would come down to the writer not liking basil, or cilantro, or ginger, or fish sauce. If you don't like the herbs and spices they use in the broth, assuming it was a place that had good broth, then you won't like the food.

You can always order it without all that stuff. Just ask for a bowl of "faux".

I make a mean faux. Beef ramen noodles made like soup, poured over thawed out steak umms with a splash of taste of Thai fish sauce and if I am lucky enough to have cilantro and bean sprouts on hand, oh yeah, look out iron chef.

Only recently found out from a Vietnamese friend that I've been mispronouncing it for 20 years.

The cedilla over the "o" and the little tail on the "o" makes it a very soft sound. I still don't think I'm getting it properly, but as close as my Caucasian mouth can get it's not "fo" (rhyming with "go") but rather more like "fhaa"

We were learned that lesson too back in our hometown of Denver, and that pronunciation was catching on. Now that we've moved to TX/NM, people look at us weird if we say "fhaa". It's back to "faux" for us.

Rik01:Eskimos love killed, ungutted, small birds crammed in the fat lined skin of a seal and buried for a year in the frozen dirt to 'marinate'. They munch the buggers down feathers and all and you don't want to be down wind when they do.

Heh. I think a lot of traditional delicacy foods surely HAD to have their origin in some sort of "Dear? We're starving. Is there anything at all to eat?" "Well, I think there's maybe some rotten fish left buried in the yard from last year, and maybe some rotten soybeans out in the barn..." "OK! let's try it!" and they didn't die, so hey, it's all good! scenario.

Peki:Calmamity: I can see being ambivalent about pho, but getting yourself so worked up that you have to write an opinion column about how much you hate pho? That kind of just makes you a contrarian twat.

Shut up and make yourself a sammich.

No, he's all worked up that people won't stfu and trust him when he says, "I don't like it." Same thing when I tell people I don't like ramen. Everyone is all "WTF? How could you NOT like ramen?"

If I want something like ramen, I'll go make my family's recipe for homemade chicken noodle soup, or I'll get miso.

/have yet to try pho, fiancé wants to take me to a ramen place. I'm willing to try, but yeah, ffs, if I say I don't like something, can you just trust that I've tried it enough times to make an informed opinion about it?

Via Infinito:hubiestubert: So get something you do like. It's food, it's not rocket science.

I grew up in the South, and I despise okra. It's like eating a slimy eyebrow, but if folks like it, more power to them. If you are so worried about what people think about your food likes and dislikes, maybe you shouldn't eat in public. Or maybe get over your damn selves.

If it's that slimy, it's overcooked. Blanch the whole pod for 3-4 minutes, drain, slice, mix with tomatoes and onions, cook until everything is tender...that's good eatin'. But yeah, overcooked okra is nasty.

wee:I lived in a predominately Asian community for a long time. There was pho everywhere. It's kinda "meh". Better than the ramen or whatever people try to pass off as pho in non-Asian places, sure, but it's nothing I'd go out of my way to eat. It's rice noodles in broth with herbs added, after all.

Outside of picking up a tinge of atypical "white suburbia congratulating itself for eating 'ethnic' food" from some angles, I really don't hear that much profound love for pho's taste.

I love it because it's a huge, filling bowl of soup for only five bucks.

Now, the pho joints that also make and serve the real Bánh mì, (a sandwich which is somewhat hilariously the biggest indicator Vietnam was a French colony at one point) are real good.

EvilEgg:I get where the author is coming from. I have heard of pho, but I have never actually eaten it. From the people who talk about it, I expect to emulate Meg Ryan in her famous diner scene if I ever get around to eating it.

Its really not "that" great. What I love about it is simply that its super cheap. Imagine if you will ramen noodles made at home (well except these are rice noodles), with some cheap flank stake thrown in and some herbs. Nothing special at all, but its filling and super cheap, perfect college food.

That is because, god help us, McDonalds serves surprisingly good coffee. Better than Tim Horton's or Starbucks' anyway, that's for sure.

Agreed. And the fact the McDs has some really damn good coffee scares me. Better than anything else on my drive to work; Dunkin Donuts and the gas station. I usually make coffee at home, but sometimes for a once every couple months treat I don't pack coffee, breakfast or lunch and just wing it. There is an awesome coffee shop that roasts their own on the way to work, but they are hard to get in and out of (drive all the way around the block, turn in sort of crosswise to the entrance to a dry cleaner, then up the block to where you can park), they don't open till 6:30 (when I usually am already at work), and it's worth it but waiting 10 mins on your brewed (dripped?) by the cup drip coffee just adds to my late arrival at work. And the coffee and a fresh croissant is $10. I save that place for special saturday mornings, preferably rainy. They have free wifi for customers and a really comfy set of couches.

Rik01:Elephants have been known to dig in each others arses for a dollop of feces, which they then eat.

Dollop of Daisy will do ya!

On a different note, spicy foods are an addiction (not in the literal sense). The act of eating it and suffering causes an endorphin release and people build tolerances over time. I, for one, have gone a little too heavy handed with the Sriracha before...

exick:factoryconnection: I figured before reading that it would come down to the writer not liking basil, or cilantro, or ginger, or fish sauce. If you don't like the herbs and spices they use in the broth, assuming it was a place that had good broth, then you won't like the food.

The only drawback of pho for me is the exorbitant amount of cilantro I have to deal with. Basil, ginger, fish sauce, broth, meat, noodles are all great. And then I get to the farking forest of cilantro. Gorrammit!

Cilantro is a test of the true foodie. You may have excellent taste, but if the C-receptor gene has passed you by, you can never be one of the elect.

Only recently found out from a Vietnamese friend that I've been mispronouncing it for 20 years.

The cedilla over the "o" and the little tail on the "o" makes it a very soft sound. I still don't think I'm getting it properly, but as close as my Caucasian mouth can get it's not "fo" (rhyming with "go") but rather more like "fhaa"

The easy way to remember it is there's a famous shop in seattle called Pho King.

exick:factoryconnection: I figured before reading that it would come down to the writer not liking basil, or cilantro, or ginger, or fish sauce. If you don't like the herbs and spices they use in the broth, assuming it was a place that had good broth, then you won't like the food.

The only drawback of pho for me is the exorbitant amount of cilantro I have to deal with. Basil, ginger, fish sauce, broth, meat, noodles are all great. And then I get to the farking forest of cilantro. Gorrammit!

Only recently found out from a Vietnamese friend that I've been mispronouncing it for 20 years.

The cedilla over the "o" and the little tail on the "o" makes it a very soft sound. I still don't think I'm getting it properly, but as close as my Caucasian mouth can get it's not "fo" (rhyming with "go") but rather more like "fhaa"

We were learned that lesson too back in our hometown of Denver, and that pronunciation was catching on. Now that we've moved to TX/NM, people look at us weird if we say "fhaa". It's back to "faux" for us.

I'm always torn, because I want the person I am talking with to know what I am talking about, and "faux" usually works better there.

No Such Agency:That is because, god help us, McDonalds serves surprisingly good coffee. Better than Tim Horton's or Starbucks' anyway, that's for sure.

If you want HOT coffee, sure. I only wish they made straight black normal iced coffee too, but the one near me only has some pre-mixed milk and sugar-laden sweet beverage that I definitely Do Not Want.

tortilla burger:Pho is not a hipster food. It's very much a working man type of food; it's made with relatively common ingredients, there's little in the way of fancy cooking methods or obscure preparations. And pho is exactly the type of thing you'd eat when you're hung over and need something to pick you up. It really doesn't fit the profile of a hipster/foodie favorite

Enjoying (but only ironically) the best things about working men's lives is the raison d'etre of a hipster.